Iain Duncan Smith accuses European commission of benefits ‘land grab’

The European commission has been accused of a land grab by the work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, after it launched a court case aimed at securing equal rights for non-British EU nationals resident in the UK.

Stepping into the incendiary debate on immigration and benefits fraud, the EU executive said two years of fruitless negotiation with David Cameron’s government had left it no option but to take the case to the European court of justice in Luxembourg.

But Duncan Smith vowed: “I will fight this every step of the way, I will not cave in and I will continue to work on strengthening our benefit system in the meantime to ensure it is not open to abuse by anyone.”